When September ends . . .

[Sweder]

Having failed dismally to meet my target of a 5 miler after work on Friday - Mrs S called me on my way home from work and offered Fish n Chips for supper - I resolved to get out today come what may.

A late night (and a fabulous meal) with my American agent Mike, Mrs S and Mr & Mrs SP on Saturday night - including several bottles of an incomparable Fleurrie - did not deter me. I scheduled a wake-up call for 7am, planning a light snack and departure by 08:30.

Well, I woke up at 8:45, bleary-eyed and disoriented.
Damn. Ordinarily I'd abandon a run at this point - too much to do throughout the day, blah blah blah. Mike, SP and I were meeting at 2pm for 18 holes at Seaford Head, so I had a rapidly shrinking window for my run.

Black coffee, granary toast & honey consumed, dogs in tow and 5 Live Sports Xtra broadcasting high drama from the Oval piped in through my earphones, and I was out the door. Mercifully cool air and cloudy skies greeted us as we started the climb onto the Downs, and I set off at a very comfortable pace.

I reached Black Cap (appx 2.5 miles) in 25:06 and Ditchling Beacon (the turn at 5miles) in 48:38. A majority of the outward leg was uphill and appeared to be into the steady breeze. I say appeared to be; as I turned toward home I swear the wind changed direction. This so often happens, or appears to on a run, or on the golf course. I'm pretty sure when I'm running well or on top of my game, I don't notice these things. But this was my longest run for 3 months, and it's far from plain sailing.

I plodded eastwards, exchanging Shearers with cyclists, fellow plodders and dog-walkers alike. The gloom above lifted a little, and the temperature rose a couple of degrees. I was grateful of the sports drink/ water mix I'd elected to carry, though, rather like the losing gunslinger in cartoons of my youth, the liquid appeared to pour down my throat and directly out of a number of holes in my body.

I returned to Black Cap in 1:11:42, feeling a little stronger, and I kicked on. Home in 1:32:27 for close on 10 miles/ 16K. Outward (uphill) 5M/ 8K in 48 minutes, return 5M/ 8K in a little over 4 minutes quicker. Overall pace at 9 minute 12 second miles - within 2% of my FLM pace back in April.

A reasonable performance over hilly terrain after a dismall running summer; much to do before October 16th.